


xi. psych 101

by tempestaurora



Series: the kids aren't alright [whumptober 2020] [11]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Murder Mystery, Pre-Canon, Vanya is Dead and Klaus Can See Her As a Ghost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26949943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tempestaurora/pseuds/tempestaurora
Summary: Five didn’t understand, which was rare for him.He understood everything always, and that which he didn’t understand, he would eventually. This, he hoped, was one of those things: his little sister, Vanya, was dead. The words didn’t fit together the way they were supposed to, and instead all he was left with was a vague, deeply painful feeling in his stomach.OR: Five gets to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Vanya's death.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Ben Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: the kids aren't alright [whumptober 2020] [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1930186
Comments: 28
Kudos: 282





	xi. psych 101

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Defiance
> 
> this is a continuation of like day eight or something, the first part of 'ghosts'
> 
> they're all like 13 and a lil angsty
> 
> anyway, go forth and have fun

Five didn’t understand, which was rare for him.

He understood everything always, and that which he didn’t understand, he would eventually. This, he hoped, was one of those things: his little sister, Vanya, was dead. The words didn’t fit together the way they were supposed to, and instead all he was left with was a vague, deeply painful feeling in his stomach.

After Klaus told him, he vanished. He reappeared in Vanya’s bedroom, bare and empty and forgettable, and stared into space until he finally heard footsteps heading his way. He couldn’t face his siblings right now. He couldn’t face their grief – was it even _real_ to them? Five couldn’t remember the last time the lower numbers had a nice thing to say about Vanya, had even looked at her without distaste or disgust in their eyes.

Klaus was something different, but that was because he was _always_ something different. He wound up Vanya regularly, and sometimes rolled his eyes when she spoke, but he never said cruel things out loud, and he was occasionally, even, kind. And Ben, Number Six – well, he strived to always be nice, perhaps to make up for the starving eldritch horror in his chest. His grief would be honest and open and painful, and Five couldn’t bear to see that any more than he could stand seeing the tear tracks on Allison’s face.

So Five vanished once more, up into the greenhouse on the roof, and he laid amongst the greenery until sunrise.

*

He spent two days thinking and plotting and planning. He did not go to mealtimes, did not show up for training. Five Hargreeves only stepped back inside the house briefly, to collect clean clothes or steal bread and peanut butter from the empty kitchen. The smell of Klaus’ vomit had been mopped up, and Mom continued to spray air freshener lest it returned.

Five walked the city, mainly. He first headed twenty blocks down, then he wandered a few over and made the walk back up. He’d rarely done this during the day, not when someone might recognise his uniform, or when Reginald was awake and aware of his absence. It looked different in the day; busier, brighter, livelier.

Five walked out his pain, his deep-rooted sadness, and returned at the end of the second day, slipping into bed as if he’d been there the whole time, wallowing. The next morning, after little sleep, Five got up before the alarm and jumped into Klaus’ room, across the hall.

“Wake up,” he said, nudging Klaus.

Klaus reared back, suddenly awake. “Who—fuck— _Five?”_

“Obviously,” Five replied. “I need to talk to you.”

“You need to _talk_ to me? Dude, where the hell have you been? Dad’s _pissed_ about you going AWOL—”

“He’ll get over it—”

“Not likely.”

Five rolled his eyes. “I need to talk to you about Vanya.” He noted the way Klaus’ eyes automatically jumped to a spot behind him, by his desk. Klaus had been seeing ghosts since he was small, and though he was regularly high or doped up, Five knew he likely had better control of it than he showed. He didn’t comment on it. “How’d she die?”

Klaus blinked, eyes locking back on him. “Oh, shit, right.” He yawned and sat up, his back against the wall. “You left before Dad gave us the rundown. He said it was an aneurysm.”

Five pulled a face. _An aneurysm?_ “She was thirteen,” he said. “That’s a rarity—”

“ _We’re_ a rarity, man,” Klaus sighed. “Anyway, she was having headaches or something, and Dad said it was probably down to her meds or that time she was sick as a kid—”

“It’s like you all have a fundamental misunderstanding of what aneurysms are,” Five interrupted. “ _Anxiety medication_ does not cause aneurysms.”

“Listen, I’m just passing on the message,” Klaus said, yawning. He then sobered for a moment, eyeing Five. “I know you two were kinda close—”

“Whatever,” Five huffed. “I just—it doesn’t make sense. And how would Dad even _know_ if she’d had an aneurysm in her room, anyway?”

“Huh?”

“If Vanya was having a fully blown aneurysm, we, being right next door, would be more likely to know about it than _Dad,_ who lives on the other side of the house. How did he know about it? She went to bed like the rest of us – I saw her – and then she dies in bed and is removed before we could find her in the middle of the night? He removed all the cameras from our bedrooms last month, I _checked._ No, that’s fishy—”

“It’s weird,” Klaus allowed, “and you can thank me for what I do in my private time that disgusts him so much another day. But I think you’re looking too deep into things—probably, like, inventing a mystery surrounding Vanya’s death to allow yourself to repress your deep-rooted emotional trauma over the recent passing of a sibling, and a sibling you considered a _friend,_ at that.”

“Get bent,” Five replied. “Is she here?”

Klaus strained way too much keeping his eyes on Five’s face. “No,” he replied.

“Oh, shit, let me go get an extinguisher to put out the fire on your pants, _liar_.”

Klaus sighed. “The others have been hounding me about her for _two days_ , alright? I’m not a fucking—messenger boy.”

“Our sister is a ghost and you can talk to the dead,” Five replied. “A messenger boy is exactly what you are. Where is she?”

Klaus huffed. “Desk chair.”

Five steeled himself and turned. Of course, there was nothing there. Not that he could see, not with his eyes that couldn’t tear between the veils of existence; reach towards the other side.

He took an unstable breath. _Vanya is dead,_ he reminded himself, as he had a thousand times already. _She is dead, and she is not coming back._ He had been jealous of Klaus for two days, now, of his ability to talk to those who were gone. What Five would give to see Vanya in front of him again.

He said, “I’m going to find out what really happened. I swear.”

There was a pause and Klaus sighed. “She said you don’t have to.”

“Of course I have to,” Five retorted, still looking at the desk chair, like she might somehow materialise before him. “If I don’t, who will?”

*

Breakfast was eaten in stony silence as usual, but made interesting by Reginald’s glare when he saw Five waiting at the table as if he hadn’t been gone for two days. Afterwards, when Reginald stood, he said, “Number Five. My office, now.”

Once there, he stared blankly ahead as Reginald walked circles around him, lecturing and spewing vitriol about his absence, his cowardice, his disobedience. Five was thirteen and he didn’t fucking _care._ The old man wouldn’t let him time travel, wouldn’t let him try spacial jumps that would land him in the city, out of his sight – why the hell would he start caring about his opinions _now?_ Five had long realised that Reginald didn’t care about the kids he housed, and that meant he didn’t care about Vanya, either.

When Reginald was finally done, he sat down at his desk. “Get out,” he said, “and do _not_ disobey me again.”

“One question,” Five said, and Reginald’s gaze was sharp on him. “How did Vanya _really_ die?”

“Aneurysm,” Reginald replied, cold, “which you would know if you hadn’t run away like a child upon hearing of her passing.”

Five made his voice just as icy: “Oh, I heard about the aneurysm. I’m asking what _really_ happened, seeing as the aneurysm is a load of bullshit.”

Reginald roared out of his desk and Five vanished in a burst of blue light. He was pushing his luck and he knew it – but what could Reginald _do_ to him, really? Make him train until he threw up? Ban him from training at all? Or – heaven forbid – stop him from going on missions? Five was a thirteen year old with _powers._ There was nothing Reginald could do to stop him; no punishment he could inflict that Five couldn’t get himself out of. He could literally teleport.

He barged his way into the classroom, where Mom was starting her lesson, and interrupted loudly: “Vanya wasn’t killed by an aneurysm. I’m gonna find out what happened to her – who’s helping?”

The room was silent as they all stared at him.

“Five,” Mom started, “it’s good to have you in class. Would you like to take your seat?”

“No, I’m going to solve the mystery of how our sister died, thanks.”

“Five,” Diego hissed. “Give it up—”

“She died of an aneurysm,” Luther agreed. “There’s no deeper mystery here.”

“Of _course_ there is!” Five cried. “Vanya was young, healthy, with absolutely _no_ preconditions—”

“Vanya’s childhood illness—”

“Which she got over!” Five yelled, interrupting Mom. “Not to _mention_ that she showed no signs of agonising headaches, light sensitivity, memory problems, difficulty speaking—yeah, I _looked them up_ this morning,” he said, when Diego looked like he was going to say something. “I did the absolute _bare minimum!_ Come on! We’re a family of literal superheroes and you think Vanya’s dying from an aneurysm?”

“She didn’t have powers,” Allison replied.

“That we know of,” Ben pointed out.

“Yes, Ben, exactly,” Five agreed. “Come _on—”_

“Five, would you _please_ take your seat,” Mom said.

“Aren’t you in massive trouble for disappearing for two days?” Luther asked. “Do you really need to make Dad madder?”

“Oh, I’m sorry for being affected by the revelation of my sister’s death,” Five replied, not at all sorry. He felt amped up, ready to fight bad guys and conspiracies. Almost—manic. Yeah, that was how he might describe himself, if he was a little more self-aware in the moment: _manic._

Five may have had six siblings, but he had only a few _friends._ The lower numbers were their own clique of powerful heroes that Dad clearly devoted more time to, and the higher numbers were something else. Five wasn’t sure if Klaus was in either of those groups, or just straddled the boundaries between – but Ben and Vanya were Five’s _people._ That had been decided years ago when they started spending their free hour on Sundays in the library; Ben reading his book aloud as Vanya practised violin and Five interrupted constantly with questions and ideas.

One of his two people was dead.

He stared at Ben, but Ben didn’t say a word, just looked back with a conflicted gaze. _Come on, Ben,_ he willed.

“I’m in.” But it wasn’t Ben who said it, it was—

“Klaus?”

Klaus shoved himself out of his chair. “And _Vanya’s_ in, too. If Five believes Dad’s lying to us about her death, then Vanya’s willing to trust him.”

The others exchanged glances.

“You said you couldn’t summon her,” Allison said slowly.

“Well, I lied,” Klaus replied. “She’s right here, like she always is, and—” he jerked his head to the side. “Yes, yes, I’ll tell her. She says help Five or go fuck yourself.”

“Klaus!” Mom said, as Klaus sniggered.

“She did _not_ say that,” Ben retorted as Allison yelled, “Asshole!”

“Allison! We do _not_ use that kind of language. Now, Five, Klaus, please take your seats so we can start the lesson.”

Five hummed. “I don’t think so—”

“Five, _please,_ ” she insisted. “Vanya’s funeral is at eleven; I wish to cover this session before—”

“Her funeral’s _today?”_

“Yeah,” Luther said. “Dad told us last night.”

He shot a quick look of annoyance towards Klaus, who hadn’t informed him during their impromptu interrogation that morning. “But what about the coroner’s report? Where is she being buried?”

“In the courtyard,” Mom said. “Please, sit do—”

“I can’t sit down, now!” Five huffed. “I’ve only got—an hour and a half before we never see her again!”

“Five—”

Five span and marched out of the classroom. Where would Vanya be kept? Where would Dad keep her body—oh, this was _ridiculous._ It’d be nowhere they’d likely have access to; nowhere they’d just stumble over. Dad’s wing was probably the best place to start, then maybe Pogo’s room, or the lab— _hm,_ the lab would be good for regulating temperature. That could herald some answers.

“Five!” Klaus said, racing after him. “What are we doing? How do we do this?”

He twisted his face in thought, continuing down the hall away from the classroom. “You can pick locks, right?”

“Obviously,” Klaus replied.

“We need to split up. We haven’t got much time before Vanya’s buried and we lose access to her body. If there’s a coroner’s report, it’ll be in Dad’s office somewhere – or maybe his room. But her _body_ is probably somewhere like the lab.”

“Dad’s totally gonna catch us if we go in his office,” Klaus told him.

“Then we’ll need a distraction,” Five said. “Something urgent enough that could get him out for a few minutes. I can blink into his office and you can snoop around his room.”

“What about the cameras?”

“We’ll deal with them,” Five replied, waving a hand. “Just like we do when we sneak out for doughnuts. Distraction,” he added. “Any ideas?”

Just then, Ben came running down the hall. “I wanna help,” he said, when he skidding to stop beside them. “We can’t bury her without knowing for sure.”

Five looked at Klaus and Klaus looked at Five.

“That could work,” Klaus said.

*

Five watched from a shadowed corner as Reginald left his office, searching for the cause of the screaming. Downstairs, out of sight of the office doors, was Ben, unleashing his eldritch horror monster as if he’d lost control of it in the terrible agony of losing his sister. Klaus, crouched beside him, nodding appreciatively.

“Those tentacles really do come in handy, huh?”

When Reginald was out of sight, Five pointed towards the hall leading to Reginald’s bedroom, and Klaus nodded once before running off. Five checked the coast was clear and blinked into Reginald’s office.

With the cameras looped, they were invisible as they snooped around dear old Dad’s quarters. Five knew he couldn’t take long, though – Reginald didn’t care about his children, though he might spend a little longer on the powerful demonic entity that one of the children housed in their body. He darted around the office, from place to place, searching for the coroner’s report – it would be here somewhere—

If he even had a coroner look her over. Five huffed, sharp. Of course he wouldn’t have someone look her over. They were a school of super-powered children, excluding Vanya, though Five and Ben had always privately toyed with the idea that she was just a late bloomer. Their DNA was rare and special and incredibly sought after – Reginald wouldn’t have an outsider cut open even his ordinary child.

Five reeled – he was still in the office, though, which didn’t happen often. There had to be _something_ —what about his notes? He was always writing notes, keeping track; surely he’d have something on Vanya. He must’ve written down her true cause of death somewhere.

So Five started searching, lifting papers and looking for that red notebook Reginald used. From the floor below the screaming was dying down, and Reginald’s shouting was taking over. He could be quick with his lectures if he wanted to be, so Five checked the drawers and the cupboards, the filing cabinets – anything unlocked, until he decided that Reginald would never leave his notebook in an _unlocked cabinet._

He needed Klaus – Klaus could unlock anything with those picks of his.

Five jumped into Reginald’s bedroom, where Klaus bolted upright, yelping. He cut himself off short. “Did you find it?” he hissed as he looked through their father’s drawers. Reginald’s room was far, far bigger than any of the kids’; there was a giant, four poster bed, arm chairs and a fire place, as well as a walk-in closet and en suite.

Five tried not to be jealous of all this and replied, “No, I don’t think there is one. I want to find his notebook, but I need you to unlock the drawers.”

Klaus pulled a face. “Do we have time for that? The fighting’s winding down—”

“I’ll deal with it – let me get you in the office and I’ll sort everything else out.”

Klaus looked sceptical, but Five didn’t have time for hesitation. He was running on adrenaline alone as he wound his arm around Klaus’ shoulders and jumped back to the office, immediately heaving from the effort.

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Klaus said. “I’m gonna vomit.”

“Do it later,” Five replied. “I think I’ve seen him place his notebook in the desk, somewhere. We can’t take it with us, so we just gotta find the right page.”

Klaus was already kneeling by the cupboard, looking green as he worked with the picks. Five vanished abruptly, though he was already tired, and appeared back out on the mezzanine to sneak down the stairs, where he’d get a good angle on Reginald lecturing Ben. He waved to catch Ben’s eye, then ducked back when Reginald changed directions and risked catching sight of him.

After a moment, he popped back up, Ben’s eyes already on him, and gave him a symbol to keep it going, make it last a little longer. Ben nodded, gravely serious, and Five dashed back up the stairs again. Only a moment later did he hear the shouting start up again, as Ben pretended to lose control all of the tentacles once more.

Five stopped outside the office and jumped the short distance back inside, to find Klaus say, “Aha!”

“You found it?”

Klaus had wedged open a slim drawer Five hadn’t even seen, built into the underside of the desk surface. The lock, too, was hidden, and inside was a single item: a red notebook, engraved with the letters _R.H._

Five took the notebook and flipped quickly through the pages. _One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six—_

“Seven,” he said, finding Vanya’s first name underlined. He skimmed the pages, his brows drawing together, and skipped forward until he could find the most recent entry.

“What does it say?” Klaus asked, popping up beside him.

“A lot of confusing shit,” Five admitted. He glanced past the book. “Relock those cupboards – he can’t know we’ve been in here.” Klaus knelt back down as Five found the page he was searching for, dated three days previous:

_Termination of Number Seven worked effectively—_

“Shit.”

Four days back: _Number Seven has been complaining of headaches, but has not mentioned the increase in pills—_

Seven days back: _Number Seven has been administered a higher dose of medication with a changed formula that will trigger a fatal aneurysm once a substantial amount has been ingested—_

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

Fourteen days back: _Number Seven’s behaviour has recently been erratic. Pogo and Grace reported seeing her take her pills less often, believed to be due to lower experiences of anxiety-inducing situations. Numbers One to Six have gone on zero missions in this time frame, and camera footage shows Number Seven laughing and spending enjoyable time with Numbers Five and Six. The lower use of her medication has—_

“Five, we’ve gotta go,” Klaus hissed, standing again. “Vanya’s getting antsy.”

Five looked up at the mention of Vanya. He’d almost forgotten that she’d be in the room, following along. After a moment’s consideration, he ripped out the recent pages from the notebook and passed the rest back to Klaus, who locked it up in the drawer again.

Five shoved the papers in his inside blazer pocket and took Klaus’ arm, steeling himself.

“Oh, God,” Klaus moaned, before they jumped back into Reginald’s bedroom. Five stumbled for the door and slumped against the wall in the corridor as Klaus locked it back up, looking like he was about to be sick. Together, they staggered back down the hall and across the mezzanine, rounding the corner just as Reginald marched back up the stairs.

They collapsed on the floor, listening to the office unlock and open, before the doors closed tightly shut once more.

*

“The lower use of her medication,” Five read quietly in his room, Ben and Klaus sat on either side of him, and Vanya – he was assured – sat beside them, “has resulted in faint earthquakes, the destruction of possessions and loud noises. Though she has not shown knowledge of these occurrences relating to her abilities, it is clear that as she grows older, Number Seven’s powers have grown stronger with her, even if they have been safely suppressed until now.

“It is my belief that when Number Seven ceases taking her medication altogether, she will likely be uncontrollable, with powers well beyond her understanding and abilities. Such powers could easily trigger a doomsday scenario if not stopped. After great consideration, for the sake of the world, it has been decided that Number Seven will need to be terminated. In the next week, I will synthesise a new medication for her with an increased dosage. The death must appear natural to avoid suspicion.

“One day, perhaps, the world will look back on this moment and thank me for the decision I am about to undertake.”

The room was silent after he finished reading, before Ben said, “That _bastard._ ”

“Absolute asshole,” Klaus agreed.

“Motherfucker.”

“Dickface.”

“I get it,” Five huffed. “He sucks. We’ve always known that. _God._ ” He pressed his fingertips hard into his eyeballs. “He killed Vanya.”

“Vanya would like to contribute to the discussion,” Klaus said. “She told me to say: _douchebag._ ”

Five let himself huff out a laugh before sitting upright and stuffing the papers away his in blazer again. “The funeral’s in twenty minutes,” he said. “We need to be there.”

“He’s only gonna piss you off,” Ben said. “What if we skip it? He killed her—”

“And she’s our sister. We’re going to her funeral,” Five sighed. “But then we’ve gotta go.”

“ _What?_ ”

“He did this to her with no remorse,” Five told them, standing to pace around the room. “You heard the way he phrased it. _For the sake of the world. Termination._ He didn’t _care_ about her at all – she had _powers!_ This whole time! And he hid them from her and then blamed her when she hadn’t mastered them! What do you think he’d do to us if he knew we’d found out? What does he _already_ do to us now?”

His brothers glanced at each other, hesitant.

“Where would we even go?” Ben asked after a beat.

“I’m not sure,” Five replied. “But we’ll have to go fast. Right after the funeral – he might’ve already discovered the missing pages. If not, he’ll find them soon. We get out, we run, we—”

“We turn him into the police,” Klaus said. “That’s what Vanya wants.”

“The police won’t believe it,” Five replied. “And if they do, he’ll pay his way out.”

“Well, we _try_ ,” Ben decided. “If we don’t try, what was even the point of finding out? Of solving the mystery? Where’s the justice in just letting it go?”

Five hesitated before nodding. “Alright. Funeral, run away, go to the police. Pack your things, we need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

*

They didn’t have the time to search the lab in the end, though Five was pretty sure that’s where Vanya’s body was being kept. Honestly, after finding the notebook, he was relieved to discover that he wouldn’t have to look at her corpse.

So he saw the coffin for the first time twenty minutes later as they lined up outside. It was sat in the courtyard, and would be moved to the Hargreeves crypt later on. The coffin was bare except for the Umbrella Academy crest and a photo of Vanya, looking empty and blank. Her body was in that box. Her dead, dead body.

Five clenched his fists and shoved them into his pockets. He stood through Reginald’s eulogy and didn’t hear a word. He only thought about violin music and the library and Vanya practising Russian softly to herself as the others rushed around to get ready for a mission. Though they were born at the same time, Vanya had always been the littlest sibling.

And now she was gone, and their father was responsible, and they had to _leave._

He considered letting himself cry, but he refused to do so in front of his father. Nearby, Allison had no qualms about the matter; Five couldn’t remember the last time she’d said a kind word to Vanya – but maybe that’s why she was crying; regret over the things she didn’t say.

When the funeral was done, Five felt Reginald’s gaze on him, and expected to be called into his office once more, to discuss the missing page of the notebook, but instead he just left the children to mourn, to stare at the coffin and miss the sister they were raised to dislike.

When he was gone, Klaus elbowed him.

“D’you think we should tell the others?”

Five glanced past him, to Luther, Allison and Diego. It would be the right thing to do, probably, but he couldn’t imagine any of them escaping particularly far with Luther and Diego butting heads and the three of them lording high and mighty over the rest. Five shrugged.

“I don’t care,” he decided. “Vanya can decide.”

Klaus looked back over to the coffin and Five viscerally hated the thought of Vanya standing beside it. “She said they’re our siblings.”

Five sighed. “Fine.” He nodded Ben and Klaus to follow as he stepped over, and the three lower numbers glanced up when they approached. “You’re not gonna believe me,” he started, “but everything I’m about to say is the truth.” Already their faces were sceptical; Diego looking outright annoyed and Allison confused with her tear-stained face. He kept his voice low. “Dad killed Vanya.” Luther scoffed; Five rolled his eyes. “Vanya has—had powers, and they were strong. Too strong for him to control, so when we were kids, he doped her up and supressed them – that’s what her medication was for. Recently, he realised her powers were _still_ uncontrollable, and stronger than ever past the drugs, and decided to kill her so he didn’t have to deal with them.”

“Yeah, right,” Luther said.

“It’s not okay to joke about that stuff,” Allison agreed.

Five sighed, glancing back at Ben and Klaus. “I tried,” he said with a shrug. “Dad doesn’t care about any of us. As soon as we stop being useful, he’ll get rid of us, just like he did to Vanya.”

“Or if we get too strong,” Ben added. “Then he’ll be scared of us and kill us because of that, instead.”

Five could see on their faces that they didn’t believe them. He shrugged again.

“Sorry, Vanya,” he said. “I tried.”

Klaus put a hand on his shoulder. “She said it’s okay.”

Five jerked his head towards the door. “Let’s go.”

*

They took the bags they’d stashed under their beds, and swept their rooms quickly, one last time. Five looked through Vanya’s things, too; put her language books beside his mathematics ones, her one allotted stuffed animal with his. He swung her violin in its case over his shoulder, too, and headed out into the corridor, where Ben and Klaus waited. Downstairs, training was about to begin – they’d be missed quickly, so they had to go before that happened.

“Bye, house,” Ben said, and that was all they needed before leaving through the window in Luther’s room and down the fire escape. They wandered out of the alley, into the real world, and began their trek to find a new home.

*

In another universe, Five would jump into the future and find himself trapped in the apocalypse. In this one, he jumps into a car in a scrapyard and opens the doors from the inside to let his brothers in to sleep for the night. In another universe, Vanya would live on to eventually cause the end of the world. In this one, she is a ghost, following her brothers onto the streets and never growing up.

In this universe, there can be no apocalypse without a catalyst. In this universe, there is no doomsday, but that doesn’t mean things are any better.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading!! this series will continue at some other point in the month
> 
> pls talk to me in the comments!
> 
> tomorrow: some allison-centric stuff


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